I Conquered My Fear Of Water And Swimming…

This past weekend, I decided to go out and conquer my fear of water and swimming. One year from now, I will need to efficiently swim 2.4 miles for Ironman. I have never been able to make it further than down and back at a pool, and haven’t treaded water for more than 2 minutes. That is why attempting to swim across Devil’s Lake, 1.2 miles terrified me.

With the support of a SUP that stayed near me. I was able to make it all the way across in a very slow and inefficient 71 minutes and only threw up 4 times during the swim. I was unable to front crawl, so I spent the entire time laying on my back, flopping. I will probably use a few different swim coaches for the next year because I know this swim will probably be one of my hardest challenges.

The other day, I was sitting in my office at the Transformation Center working and eavesdropping on a handful of women in their 60s who had just finished their workout. The one woman was telling the other ladies about her epic hiking trips out to the mountains. The other ladies were inspired and they began to talk about possibly doing a trip either together or with others, and starting off with a smaller hike because of the confidence they have been getting through our Fit over 60 training program.

This made me think of my mom, and three years ago, she agreed to hike a 14,000 plus foot mountain in Colorado because it was what her kids wanted to do. This was the furthest thing from her comfort zone or personal desire. My mom did make it to the top having given every ounce of her energy and strength. Seeing my mom climbing hands and feet at the top and saying, “only for you kids,” is a memory I will always cherish and it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.

Why am I sharing all this with you? My favorite health book of all time, Younger Next Year, (yes, in many ways more favorite than my own book) calls these sorts of activities “kedging.” The authors define “kedging” as planning a vacation or event that will require some training and some mental and physical pushing. I believe that these types of challenges will result in some of our biggest breakthroughs in life.

You might be a mom with three small kids, feeling like you have no time for yourself and your body is a larger, stretched out version of before and struggling to feel confident and beautiful. Set a challenge that scares you and find the necessary people and expertise to make it a reality. The confidence you will gain can catapult you to the next level in any part of your life. You might be a woman in your 40s watching your parents age and wondering how to avoid facing some of those same health challenges as you get older. You want to be able to get down onto the floor and play with your grandkids and avoid taking tons of meds or dealing with severe daily pain.

Set a challenge that scares you and find the necessary people and expertise to make it a reality. The confidence you will gain can catapult you to the next level in any part of your life.

You might be a woman in your mid 50s and have put on 30lbs of fat all around the midsection from the big “M” word. You hardly recognize the body that you were just 5 years ago and wonder if your best years are already behind you. Set a challenge that scares you and find the necessary people and expertise to make it a reality. The confidence you will gain can catapult you to the next level in the next phase of your life.

You might be a 65 year old newly retired woman who has seen her energy, strength and balance deteriorate rapidly over the past few years and are concerned what life will look like 10 years from now if this continues. Set a challenge that scares you and find the necessary people and expertise to make it a reality. The confidence you will gain can catapult you to the next level and reverse many of the “natural” experiences of rapid aging.

These are the type of clients that I and my incredible team of trainers work with both in Madison at our Transformation Centers and bootcamps and online through our home DVD programs each day.

Within the next week, I am going to share with you a story of a woman who lost 80 lbs and set a massive goal for herself.

Now that kids are back in school, we are looking for a few women interested in becoming Fit Moms for Life Leaders and obtaining massive results (physically and emotionally), while helping other women do the same. Join us for a special live webinar to learn more on Wednesday, September 23 at 7:30 PMCentral. Click here to reserve your spot! Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone and help others do the same and your life will never be the same. Learn more about leading here: http://www.fitmomsforlife.com/lead_now/